Dr. Elirehema Mfinanga is a public health physician with over ten years of experience in vaccines and immunization, clinical development, safety monitoring of medicines and vaccines, and regulatory affairs. He has served as an investigator and coordinator for vaccine clinical trials, audited clinical trial applications, and is a WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) Assessor for Vigilance and Clinical Trial functions. He has also contributed to the National Technical Working Group on Immunization in Tanzania.

He currently serves as Principal Programme Officer at AUDA-NEPAD, where he leads the Vigilance System Strengthening workstream. In this role, he supports Member States and coordinates collaboration with grantees, project teams, technical experts, and consultants to advance the implementation of smart safety surveillance systems across Africa.

Previously, he led vaccine and medicines vigilance at the Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA), where he coordinated national vaccine safety monitoring activities. He also served as part of the secretariat for the Tanzania National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (TITAG) and the AEFI Vigilance Technical Committee, working closely with the Immunization and Vaccines Development Programme and partners including WHO, US CDC, Gavi, and UNICEF to strengthen immunization and vaccine safety systems.